The British grandmother who crashed yesterday in Antarctica as she attempted to fly a helicopter around the world had no illusions of the risks she was running, describing her trip into the South Pole as a 'nightmare'.

Jenny Murray, 63, broke her arm and co-pilot Colin Bodill, 53, sustained chest injuries when their helicopter came down in bad weather in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Yesterday evening the pair were being flown to Chile for medical treatment. A spokeswoman described their condition as 'stable'.

Murray, from Somerset, and Bodill, from Nottingham, had described the flights in and out of Antarctica as 'one of the most critical phases' of their trip, which aimed to break the world record for flying pole to pole in a helicopter.

It emerged last night that the weather had been a constant concern. Murray wrote in her diary shortly after flying into Antarctica last week: 'Finding a landing spot that would hold the weight of the helicopter without sinking proved a nightmare.

'Repeated attempts at landing were followed by that sinking sensation. I suggested that I get out and put planks of wood under the skids. It was a good idea in theory, a nightmare to execute in practice. I jumped out and was hit by freezing winds.' Her journal is being published on the website of Polar First, the organisation backing her trip.

Despite their injuries, the pair managed to erect a tent in the -40C temperatures and icy winds after sheltering in their downed craft. A satellite signal was picked up from the distress beacon on their Bell 407 helicopter at RAF Kinloss in Scotland. The airbase alerted the MoD and a rescue team was scrambled from the Falklands. The duo were flown to Patriot Hills camp about 120 miles from where they crashed.

The crash ends an ambitious attempt to break the world record for flying pole to pole. The pair lifted off from New York last October, with Sarah Ferguson, the organisation's patron, waving them off. They had been aiming to use the trip to raise awareness and money for the World Wildlife Fund and to map unchartered areas of the globe.

The pair had already flown about 33,000 miles and were in the process of starting their journey up to the North Pole, via the west coast of North America, with a view to arriving in New York in mid-April 2004.

Last night, the Duchess of York, a friend of Murray's, spoke of her delight on hearing that she was safe.

'I know this won't deter her from trying again and it certainly won't be her last adventure - although both of them will be more than aware that nature always has the last word,' Ferguson said.

Murray and Bodill are no strangers to adventure. In 2001 they flew the London to Sydney air race, setting a new world speed record. In 2000 Bodill became the first person to circumnavigate the globe solo in a microlight.

Murray set the world record for the fastest female solo helicopter flight around the world in 2000. Prior to that, in 1997, she had entered the Guinness Book of Records as the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in a helicopter.

Her husband, Simon, is also on a mission, with Arctic explorer Pen Hadow. He is hoping to become the oldest man to walk 850 miles unsupported to the South Pole.